Kearney Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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City · Buffalo County · County seat · Population 33,790 (2020 census) · ZIP 68845 · Founded 1872

About Kearney

Kearney (CAR-nee) is a city of 33,790 people (2020), the fifth-largest in Nebraska and the seat of Buffalo County, at 2,152 feet on the north side of the Platte valley. I-80 runs along the south side of the city (Exit 272 at NE 44, and Exits 275 and 279 at NE 10 on the east side), and US 30 crosses it east–west. It is home to the University of Nebraska at Kearney, the Archway, CHI Health Good Samaritan and Kearney Regional Medical Center, and Kearney Regional Airport has United Express flights to Denver and Chicago O’Hare. The Buckle has its headquarters here. Kearney is on Central Time.

History

The city takes its name from Fort Kearny (1848–1871), which stood across the Platte in what is now Kearney County; the extra “e” came from postal misspellings. The Union Pacific arrived in 1866, and when the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad completed its junction with the UP on September 1, 1872, the townsite was surveyed as Kearney Junction. It became the city of Kearney on December 3, 1873. Voters moved the county seat here from Gibbon on October 13, 1874, and County Clerk Joseph Scott and his deputy, F. G. Keens, hauled the records over by farm wagon at night. A Gilded Age boom brought an irrigation canal, an electric street railway and a five-story opera house, but the depression of the early 1890s ended it; the population fell from 8,074 in 1890 to 5,634 in 1900. The State Normal School at Kearney, authorized in 1903, opened in 1905; it became Kearney State Teachers College (1921), Kearney State College (1963) and, after joining the University of Nebraska system, the University of Nebraska at Kearney (1991). The Archway over I-80 opened in 2000. Kearney has grown at every census since 1900. Peter G. Peterson, Secretary of Commerce and co-founder of Blackstone, was born here in 1926, as was The Blacklist creator Jon Bokenkamp in 1973.

Highways and trails through Kearney

Route	One way	Other way
I-80Along the south side of the city: Exits 272 (NE 44), 275 (NE 10 north, the Archway) and 279 (NE 10 south)	West to Odessa and Elm Creek	East to Gibbon and Grand Island
US 30East–west through the city	West to Odessa and Elm Creek	East to Buda and Gibbon
NE 10North–south on the east side	North to Glenwood and Pleasanton	South across the Platte to Minden

Nearby towns

Glenwood	about 4 mi north	NE 10
Buda	about 5 mi east	US 30
Riverdale	about 7 mi northwest	NE 40
Odessa	about 9 mi west	US 30
Gibbon	about 13 mi east-northeast	US 30
Amherst	about 14 mi northwest	NE 40
Elm Creek	about 15 mi west	US 30
Minden	about 15 mi south-southeast	NE 10
Pleasanton	about 19 mi north	NE 10
Shelton	about 19 mi east-northeast	US 30
Ravenna	about 24 mi north-northeast	County roads
Grand Island	about 41 mi east-northeast	I-80

Things to see

The Archway, 3060 E. 1st St. (I-80 Exit 275): history exhibit in a bridge over I-80 · the free Museum of Nebraska Art in the former post office (National Register), 2401 Central Ave. · the G.W. Frank Museum of History and Culture in the 1886 Frank mansion on the UNK campus (free) · the Trails and Rails Museum, 710 W. 11th St. · The American Automobile Experience (formerly the Classic Car Collection), 3600 E. US Hwy 30 · the Nebraska Firefighters Museum, 2434 E. 1st St. · the Fort Kearney Museum (Memorial Day to Labor Day) · the Kearney Area Children’s Museum · downtown “On the Bricks” (Kearney Downtown Historic District, National Register 2017) and Harmon Park (National Register 2010) · Cruise Nite in July (July 14–19 in 2026) and the Buffalo County Fair

Events in Kearney

Buffalo County Fair
Buffalo County Fair, a county fair in Kearney, Nebraska.
Kearney Cruise Nite
Kearney Cruise Nite is held in Kearney, Nebraska, in mid-July (Tuesday to Sunday).

Know of another event here? Tell us about it.

Schools and health care

Schools: Kearney Public Schools: ten elementary schools, Horizon and Sunrise middle schools and Kearney High School; Kearney Catholic (6–12), 110 E. 35th St.; Zion Lutheran School (PreK–8), 2421 C Ave.; University of Nebraska at Kearney; Central Community College–Kearney

Health care: CHI Health Good Samaritan (hospital), 10 E. 31st St.; Kearney Regional Medical Center (93 beds, Bryan Health), 804 22nd Ave.

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Bassett, History of Buffalo County and Its People (1916); Who’s Who in Nebraska (1940); Fitzpatrick, Nebraska Place-Names (1925); NEGenWeb Buffalo County; History Nebraska and its markers; National Register; Buffalo County; City of Kearney; Visit Kearney; Nebraska Game and Parks; Central Platte NRD; Audubon Rowe Sanctuary; Kearney Regional Airport; school districts. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.